Fable of Flesh

If the woman is a dream
what
the spine dreams of
warm
balcony at the top of the tongue,

how many rooms does she bring?
Stories
hung about her neck
and
waist like the iron weight

of a dowry. Hair tightly pulled
and
a burlap dress, nevertheless
toothsome
in shadows, statuesque.

The temple pauses on one foot
to
listen to the deep between
breaths.
Who knew a world

of crutches and stilts awaits,
a
tilt just above sinking?
The
palace hears branches

canticle in winter; the palace
longs
for Avignon in spring.
The
splintered aftermath—

an abstract of wood, glass,
wire,
string, and a pair
of
wings stretched and pinned

to the walls. Here we are flightless
but
we are not alone here
we
are so thin.

Hadara Bar-Nadav’s recent publications appear
or are forthcoming in Beloit Poetry Journal, Chelsea, Indiana Review, The Journal, Quarterly West, TriQuarterly, Verse, and other journals. Her book
of poems, A Glass of Milk to Kiss Goodnight, was chosen
by Kim Addonizio for the MARGIE First Book Prize and will be published
in spring 2007. (8/2006)